Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1887-07-22
A BRAZILIAN BALL.
The Men smoke Cigarettes and Keep
Their Hats On.

Their Hats On.
A kind of ball at the Colonia ThereZa
village, situated in fertile region, yet
stagpant from lack of communication
with the outer world, is thus described:
ION entering the house at which the en-
tertainment was to be held we Immediately
found ourselves in large mud floor room,
ranged round the walls of which were all
the youth and beauth of the village, smart
ly dressed in clean cotton prints, all evil
IDENTIFY got up for the occasion In the
center OF the room, which was bare OF
furniture, the young men OF the village, 10
the number of about two dozen, were
grouped together, chatting and smoking
cigarettes, with their hats on their heads, To
all appearances utterly obliviOus of the
presence of the ladies. Our entry seemed
10 be the signal for the commencement OF
the entertainment. Two banjos struck up,
and now, for the first time, the men began
10 turn their attention 10 the demure but
consCious-lOoking madcns who had, up to
the present moment been silently await
ingstheir pleasure. one by one each man
chose partner till ten couples were made
up. These ten couples now formed a
circle III the middle OF the room and the
dance commenced.
w AL tuC SlON anu my tlLlIlS DCdl tAS
men first began TO keep time TO the ban
joes, alternately advancing toward and re-
firing from the center of the ring, the
women also stamping with their fe t, but
not advancing At the end of each dozen
bars or 50 Of the music. all with one ac-
cord, both men and women, gave three
loud claps of the hands, which was the
signal for the moment of greater display
OF energy i'll the movements of the body,
and a more vigorous stamping of the feet
upon the hard mud floor All at once one
OF the men dancers, in a rich full voice,
struck up an 'impromptu' stanza in beau
tiful time and harmony with the music,
the last words of which were taken up
and repeated in chorus by all. Once more
vocal silence, while the monotonous tum,
tum, tum of the ban iOcs and the noise OF
the stamping of feet went ON rs before.
Then. again, second wild impromptu
stanza burst forth from another of the
dancers, again to be taken up in chorus
by all. We observed on each of these oc-
casions that the dancers all turned their
eyes upon Us, rs though We were the per
sons they were addressing. We personally
found this 10 be the case, one OF our in
terprctcrs, who was present, coming UP
and informing us that we were being in
vited TO join the dance. Nothing loqth,
we each chose willing damsel from the
still uneXhausted row Of walltlowers. and
joined the untiring ring in the middle OF
the room.
During what seemed intcrminable min.
utes We too, had now to beat our feet
upon the hard floor, swing our arms and
bodies, and clap our hands As the dance
went on the excitement waXed stronger,
the 'impromptu' shouts become yells, the
once graceful swaying of the bodies of the
performers was changed into violent con-
tortions, and all the characteristics of Il
North American Indian war dance came
into play. The atmosphere of TIE room
was full Of the smoke of cigarettes, through
which the dim beeswaX taper, here and
there stuck upon the face of the walls
around, cast lurid glare. Soon the music
ceased; the tired fingers of the ministries
had given way at last and the dance ali
ruptiy came 10 Il conclusion.